Chennai to Goa : Route Queries

This is a discussion on Chennai to Goa : Route Queries within Route / Travel Queries, part of the Travelogues category; I plan to make a trip from Chennai to Goa on my Maruthi Alto by November 2008.
Help is very ...

I did this trip on my Tata Safari with my wife and kid driving all the way to Goa and return to Chennai. We wanted to cover a few places enroute and therefore this is what we did.

Day 1 (afternoon): Chennai to Bangalore - (stay)
Day 2 - Bangalore - Shravanabelagola - Hassan - Halibed - Belur - Saklespur - Mangalore (stay). Now in this route the only problem sector is the Saklespur-Mangalore Ghat section - where the truck traffic is very high, most of the time. Alternatively there is Belur -Mudigere (joining NH13) - Bantwal - Mangalore which should be fine too. (we left Bangalore around 6:30am and reached Mangalore around 7:30 with stops at all the places for sight seeing).
Day 3 - Mangalore - Udipi - Kolur (Mookambigai) - Karwar - Goa. Here again we left at 6:30 and reached at 8pm (expect to have long queues at the Mookambigai temple).

On our return we did Goa-Hubli-Bangalore. At that time there was heavy roadworks on the Panaji - Londa - Dharwad route; everyone recommended us to take the Goa - Karwar - Hubli - Bangalore and again it was a day's drive to Bangalore and the next day we returned to Chennai.

Alternatively you can actually save on your hotel bills if you drive straight to Hassan from Chennai and stay there on day 1. If you want to avoid Mangalore then there is Bangalore - Tumkur - Shimoga - Honavar - Goa on the NH 206 (via Jog Falls) but I would strongly recommend taking the coastal highway (m'lore-goa) as it is one of the most scenic drives you can get in India.

Overall, we had a great ride and with the roads getting better and better you should have a hassle free drive. Should you require more help do write to me at notify.ram@gmail.com and I'll do my best.

Hi,
Just got back from a road trip to goa.
Did Chennai-Bangalore on The NH.It's very good road and after that it comes the rumble.Bangalore-Tumkur is busy.Tumkur-Shimoga is a Bad and The later part of the journey,the roads are very bad and effectively you can only drive 20 kms per hour.
Shimoga-Sagar is good road.Sagar onwards you get to see a lot of scenic locations and please visit Jog falls if you're on this route.Jog Falls to Honnavara is Deep Forest and is advisable to cover in the day and these are Ghat roads and hence the roads are not upto the mark.Reach Honnavara and you start seeing sign boards to Panaji.
The roads in this section are not great either.You travel towards Karwar a nice port town in North Karnataka and this place has a nice beach travelling on the same stretch takes you to goa.The roads between Ankola and Karwar are also in bad shape.
Please Buy a Map of Goa as you enter so that you can get a good hang of the geography of the region and travel easily as each resort is spread along a coastal area of 50 kms.Don't miss the food and the Boat cruises.

Return we came directly from Goa-Karwar and from Karwar went to Murudeshwar and Later to Mookambigai.Stayed the Night in Kondapur.Roads are ok and not worth mention.Next morning Kondapur-Udipi-Mangalore-Hassan-Bangalore.This took the whole day caude roads were very bad and there were stretch's where i did 7 kms in an hour.Hassan-Bangalore is a Good Highway.Went to Shravanebelgola on the way.
All told clocked 2561 kms up and down.

@Proxima, depending on different routes distance can range from 600 to 750KMs and travel time ranges from 9 to 15 hours from Bangalore. Below is a most preffered route as per my research in TBHP and Google. Check the above thread and you'll get even the micro focus on the route.

@Proxima, depending on different routes distance can range from 600 to 750KMs and travel time ranges from 9 to 15 hours from Bangalore. Below is a most preffered route as per my research in TBHP and Google. Check the above thread and you'll get even the micro focus on the route.

I don't mind the longest route provided it has less traffic and good roads. I will be riding solo on an Indian Chief Classic. It's quite a heavy bike so would prefer a route with the least traffic.

If you are heading to north Goa, Take the 4-lane all the way till Belgaum and then go via Chorla. If south Goa, then 4-lane till Hubli and then go via Yellapur-Ankola-Karwar. Look at the very active Bangalore Goa thread for more details. People take the 4-lane till Hubli and not the NH206 for Goa.

PS: Please note, this is a jurassic thread. Look at more recent ones. Chennai-Bangalore and Bangalore-Goa

Thank you ampere! I have to go to North Goa so could you please tell me where exactly the "4-lane till Belgaum, and Chorla" fit in my aforementioned route (Chennai-Bangalore-Tumkur-Arsikere-Tarikere-Shimoga-Sagar-Honavar)?

And I shall certainly look at the more recent threads. I am starting my journey from Chennai, hence the query in this one But thanks again for the prompt reply!

Thank you ampere! I have to go to North Goa so could you please tell me where exactly the "4-lane till Belgaum, and Chorla" fit in my aforementioned route (Chennai-Bangalore-Tumkur-Arsikere-Tarikere-Shimoga-Sagar-Honavar)?

And I shall certainly look at the more recent threads. I am starting my journey from Chennai, hence the query in this one But thanks again for the prompt reply!

- incase you want to break the journey, put up at Electronic City/Attibele, there are not much hotels on the Tumkur side.
- food options are plenty throughout if you time your journey well
- After you cross Dharwad, look out for a BP Petrol pump on the right side of the highway when headed towards Belgaum. After this you will get a tiny village and a crossing called "Kadrolli", enter the service lane here for the MK Hubli turn off.
- Road conditions from Chennai to Bengaluru are excellent.
- NICE Road is now slightly patched up but nowhere "nice", toll is a ripoff
- NH4 is excellent throughout
- MK Hubli - Khanapur is a little narrow, but the Tarmac is excellent and you can do some good speeds on winding village roads. Watch out for speed breakers. Relatively less traffic here.
- Khanapur - Jamboti same as above
- Chorla is fantastic, night and day difference when compared to the Mollem-Ponda route.
- Roads in Goa are generally ok, shouldn't pose a problem.

This is my preferred route anytime. Me to heading to Goa on 2nd march 😁